Interview with IS developers (by 4Gamer)

[Jagged Jagen]

Will you still be allowed to play casual mode if you go with Nohr?

Not confirmed yet, but countless debates aplenty regardless. I'm on the side who's against it, but for now, I'm not too worried. I get my sieze, objective variety, dynamic maps and linearity back. :)

[NekoKnight]

That is irrelevant.

Awakening is huge in the West, far larger than any other Fire Emblem game thus Hoshido will naturally be far more appealing to most NA FE fans as it's most like Awakening and a more straight forward story. Hence why they have to push Nohr hard compared to Hoshido as they know Hoshido is going to sell well.

Only the hardcores seem to really want Nohr more because it reminds them of the old games.

How does it follow that Hoshido needs to be exactly like Awakening to enjoy the same popularity? Did the Fire Emblem fanbase collapse after Sacred Stones because of the lack of world map?

If I knew nothing about Fire Emblem and someone told me that:

Version A will have more diversified gameplay and a more nuanced story

Version B will have less diversified gameplay and a more typical story

I'd choose Version A without hesitation. Why would I choose the game that looks less inspired?

It's funny how caring about good gameplay and story makes someone "hardcore".

Edited April 30, 2015 by NekoKnight

[Loki Laufeyson]

If you buy one side you get the other side at a discount. (50% off I think?) And nobody knows how it's going to get packaged internationally yet I think.

^ 60% off in japan if i remember correctly

K. I hope if they do the wonky packaging internationally, that will be the case.

Will you still be allowed to play casual mode if you go with Nohr?

I would certainly hope so. Limiting that mode to just one version sounds ridiculous.

[goodperson707]

I didn't mean they go together, I just get the impression they're going to have both more objectives and better maps (bc they're saying the difficulty will be high, which I'm hoping is bc less wide open fields and not just OP enemies).

I also hope the objectives are implemented well so it's not super easy to just rout everyone instead.

You are entitled to your own opinion of course but, higher difficulty=better maps? Thats an opinion so we don't know that Nohr will have better maps. I actually think Nohr they will have some really interesting maps and I'm going Nohr anyway but my expectations of cool map concepts stem mainly from the story angle of reforming Nohr giving good opportunities for unconventional chapters. But still i see no reason not to believe Hoshido will not have interesting maps too despite lack of objectives and a likely lower difficulty

[GrySun]

You'll be able to lower the difficulty in the middle of the game if you find Nohr too hard.

How about the option of increasing the difficulty in the middle of the game if you find Hoshido too easy?

[Book of Ereshkigal]

I would imagine you can just straight up change the difficulty either way, but, at the same time, I probably shouldn't make that assumption.

[Jagged Jagen]

How about the option of increasing the difficulty in the middle of the game if you find Hoshido too easy?

I'd love that, do it for Nohr too for Glutton for Punishment's like myself! :)

[sforzur]

How about the option of increasing the difficulty in the middle of the game if you find Hoshido too easy?

Unfortunately, that isn't actually mentioned at all. From a developmental standpoint, it'd probably be easiest to just allow the player to swap difficulties at any time during all three paths, but whether they decided to permit that or not is unknown.

[Baldrick]

We arent gonna have to shell out 40 clams for each route are we?

shell out 40 clams

I see what you did there ;)

[falcoknights]

5*6=30=25 distinct+5 shared

Plenty of FE "defend" chapters have less of an actual defensive component then the tiki paralog in awakening

yeah, that's what i was asking- it was mentioned around that there would be 25 total, rather than 5 same, 25 different, if that makes sense? (also-- thank you!)

[ckc22]

I hope that they don't spend most effort on Nohr and leave Hoshido less than Nohr. Based on some of the info translated Nohr will be a lot more diversified, if they put all effort into one version why even make two?

To make money... which is even more obvious after this interview.

Not confirmed yet, but countless debates aplenty regardless. I'm on the side who's against it, but for now, I'm not too worried. I get my sieze, objective variety, dynamic maps and linearity back. :)

I'll never understand these types of people... What's the point in offering fewer options - choose to play it the way you want to, where does the desire to force people to behave like you come from?

Edited April 30, 2015 by ckc22

[Thor Odinson]

pls no casual wars outside the containment of that thread thanks

Anyway, I feel, from a player's pov, going from easier to harder /might/ be more difficult than starting on harder since, from my experiences, FEA throws a metric fuckton of enemies at you in L both to increase difficulty but also to provide you with more exp so your units have more leverage too. Perhaps a easy-leveled team may be less prepared to handle the difficulty of a higher mode than a team that has been solely levelled on the same higher difficulty throughout. Probably not impossible, though. Maybe it'd even be a nice challenge.

Which definitely isn't to say don't implement easy-to-hard (should the devs choose to), because it's still good to have that option there. I mean, if all else fails and your team's stats don't quite work out, there's still swapping back to the previous difficulty, right

[goodperson707]

To make money... which is even more obvious after this interview.

Or it could be cause they feel the story and gameplay work better separated also time spent on nohr objectives will probably be near matched by the world map and related Hoshido work.

Also ckc22 how is it more obvious after this interview, if anything it seems like this was the choice of the design team not nintendo or marketing.

[ckc22]

Or it could be cause they feel the story and gameplay work better separated also time spent on nohr objectives will probably be near matched by the world map and related Hoshido work.

Also ckc22 how is it more obvious after this interview, if anything it seems like this was the choice of the design team not nintendo or marketing.

We really don't need to go in the same circles over and over again. I'm never going to be ok with the split.

[goodperson707]

^ I get that

but what impression did you get from the interview cause it really seems to me that it was the development team not marketing or nintendo.

[Mighty Kamina]

To make money... which is even more obvious after this interview.

The split is happening because after Awakening IS had the time to essentially make 3 games, as mentioned in this interview. We're getting 3 games for the price of 2.

I'll never understand these types of people... What's the point in offering fewer options - choose to play it the way you want to, where does the desire to force people to behave like you come from?

A lot of people prefer the classical style of Fire Emblem, myself included. Not being able to grind really forces more thought on what your team is going to be.

We really don't need to go in the same circles over and over again. I'm never going to be ok with the split.

That's fine, but it's looking more like IS wanted to make 3 games of differing styles, instead of it being a pure cash grab. Personally, I'm willing to support the 3 games for the price of 2 this time around.

[ckc22]

The split is happening because after Awakening IS had the time to essentially make 3 games, as mentioned in this interview. We're getting 3 games for the price of 2.

A lot of people prefer the classical style of Fire Emblem, myself included. Not being able to grind really forces more thought on what your team is going to be.

That's fine, but it's looking more like IS wanted to make 3 games of differing styles, instead of it being a pure cash grab. Personally, I'm willing to support the 3 games for the price of 2 this time around.

1) We don't know anything about how many games we're getting or how different they are because developers are chronically unreliable about describing the length/content of their own games. Particularly in the RPG genre.

2) And you have every capability of playing FE:A just like any other FE. Play classic. Don't grind. Again - these are options you have. The only arguments I ever see from people who want these things removed are from people who want to control how other people play.

3) I'd have a hugely different opinion if NoA hadn't presented a wildly different direct than the Japanese one - it's hugely misleading at best.

[Florete]

We really don't need to go in the same circles over and over again. I'm never going to be ok with the split.

Let's imagine if the game were marketed as just one game with one route - let's say Hoshido - then Nohr came later as DLC, and then the third route came even later as DLC, but by the end it all would cost the same price anyway. Would this be preferable? Why or why not?

[ckc22]

Let's imagine if the game were marketed as just one game with one route - let's say Hoshido - then Nohr came later as DLC, and then the third route came even later as DLC, but by the end it all would cost the same price anyway. Would this be preferable? Why or why not?

That would be preferable.

The difference is that in the successive example Nintendo hasn't mislead it's customers or gone against the advertised premise of the game.

Marketing matters, how you present things matters.

[arvilino]

That would be preferable.

The difference is that in the successive example Nintendo hasn't mislead it's customers or gone against the advertised premise of the game.

Marketing matters, how you present things matters.

No actual customer has been mislead, pre-orders for Fire Emblem If are not available for the west and people in Japan could only make pre-orders only after it had been revealed to be sold as two versions.

They didn't allow even the pre-order of a single copy to the game to some customer who thinks they're getting something else. If they were trying to mislead customers they'd do a Ubisoft, EA or Activision and open pre-orders right after the first trailer before anyone knows what they're getting, But they only opened pre-orders(Japan) after they informed customers how the game would be sold.

If they were trying to mislead customers in the west, we should have been able to pre-order a western version now, but we can't. We'll certainly learn how they'll sell it in the west before anyone can even become a customer and pre-order of the western version.

Edited April 30, 2015 by arvilino

[eclipse]

Hoshido players are doomed, Nohr is confirmed to be the best. :p

That's it, you're banned

Edit: lol At lowering difficulty in Nohr path. They want it to sound like the second coming of Thracia. They better not bullshit with this much hype for it.

As someone who's never played Thracia, I would love it if some spiritual reincarnation of it, complete with insane mechanics, was released over here.

My theory on the third path is that it will be more akin to the Nohr version difficulty-wise, however, you have the ability to freely grind outside of battles like in Hoshido.

I would not be averse to this!

We can probably end those defending, break through and survival x turns missions by just killing all the units. Unless there something more, it really doesn't make any big differences from routing imo.

I'll reserve judgment on this until I see what IS has in store. I think it's possible to create such objectives without forcing the player to kill all enemies.

Interesting. I really wonder what reason anyone would have to play the Hoshide route though.. unless they wanted to save the best for last.

Sheer. Curiosity. Maybe there'll be a Lunatic option for it or something.

I think break through has you surrounded, and you have to clear an opening, and then seize.

If this can be implemented in such a way where "the strongest, most mobile unit makes a break for it" isn't a viable strategy, that would be cool.

Just looking at the polls on SF, Nohr had TWICE as many fans as Hoshido did. And now on top of that, Nohr is confirmed to have more diversified victory conditions and a way to lower the difficulty. I think Hoshido needs positive attention a lot more than Nohr.

We're a very small subset of FE fans.

---

I think IS is waiting to see how the split does in Japan, before they decide how to market it in the US.

[Meltlilith]

3) I'd have a hugely different opinion if NoA hadn't presented a wildly different direct than the Japanese one - it's hugely misleading at best.

While it's heavily debatable now that we know how they're selling copies in Japan, especially with the DLC, it's been speculated that the reason why the NA direct didn't mention the dual versions is because the only version that's actually making it out of Japan is the special 3rd route edition anyway (meaning both nohr and hoshido as well as the third just to be clear). Japan seems to be far more amiable to the idea of different versions in general than the West is

It's too early to get worked up over having to purchase multiple versions if there's a good chance it might not even happen over here. (Unless you were planning on getting the Japanese versions - then by all means be upset, but realize that they are catering to an audience far more amiable to the idea)

Tbh I might get a Japanese Nohr copy if different versions aren't going to be a thing over here.

[Tamanoir]

Not confirmed yet, but countless debates aplenty regardless. I'm on the side who's against it, but for now, I'm not too worried. I get my sieze, objective variety, dynamic maps and linearity back. :)

I would actually be surprised if it weren't here.

Whether you can toggle it midway through the game or not remain to be seen (I personally would be against it).

There plan is to try to please anyone. They tried to do it with one game (Awakening) and failed, so they did this with two this time.

I'm actually planning for Classic Hoshido and Casual Nohr myself to even out the difficulty.

For difficulty, I expect a game to be easy enough to allow me to try different way of playing, but hard enough to have a reason to do so.

Awakening failed both way, because Easy/Normal mode was too easy, so you had no reason to try diffferent classes when everything you touched died instantly.

They tried to "patch" this withLunatic who had the opposite problem, limiting your options considerabily.

What I expect (or hope) is for Hoshido to allows me to allow me to use easily whoever I want (including the Est character, obviously) and for Nohr to gives me a constant challenge, and more interresting gameplay, in exchange of a restricted freedom.

Both versions meet different needs, and if this game can gives me all mmy video games needs, I have no reason to complete.

[BrightBow]

2) And you have every capability of playing FE:A just like any other FE. Play classic. Don't grind. Again - these are options you have. The only arguments I ever see from people who want these things removed are from people who want to control how other people play.

You know, your previous quote...

I'll never understand these types of people... What's the point in offering fewer options - choose to play it the way you want to, where does the desire to force people to behave like you come from?

...shows that you assume by default that those who prefer the classical style act on the "desire to force people to behave" like them. If you would be open for a different possibility instead of accusing a mere hypothetical opposition of ill intent, then you might notice that that's not were literally everyone is coming from. But let's get back to this:

2) And you have every capability of playing FE:A just like any other FE. Play classic. Don't grind. Again - these are options you have.

It's just as important to decide what the player can't do as it is to decide what the player can do. Or at least to put some thought into how these options are implemented.

Like, it's satisfying making good investment decisions with a limited amount of money... but at the same time you also really want that expensive item in the shop. And all you would need to do to buy it is to grind for 5 minutes. Sure, you know that not grinding gives you greater satisfaction in the long run but it's difficult to resist the quick fix when it's dangling right in front of your nose. So not even wanting these kind of options is basically like not even buying sweets while you are on a diet because not having them in range makes it easier to stick to your diet until you earned the long-term benefits.

Alternatively you might want to ask yourself if Fire Emblem could simply remove HP bars and replace them with a HP counter. You could still play the game the exact same way. The players could simply decide when their characters are dead and manually remove them from the map. It would do nothing but add options to the player. But would a self-enforced challenge really carry the same punch as facing a possible punishment from a source outside of your control?

Of course, there are ways to have your cake and eat it too. Or different people can have their respective kind of cake, as the case may be. That's for example why Classic mode and Casual mode are a thing in the first place..

But either way, please don't assume that just because some people want to get their chocolate cake, that they also want to deny other people their cheesecake or whatever.

Edited April 30, 2015 by BrightBow

[Jagged Jagen]

If this can be implemented in such a way where "the strongest, most mobile unit makes a break for it" isn't a viable strategy, that would be cool.

I'd absolutely love that. I think a way to potentially prevent a full on Jagen/Oifey attack on the surrounding forces (first line has horseslayers/ridersbane maybe) could make for a unique way to test your skilll or rather if your Jagen is an "EXP Thief" so to put it.

As for those pointing out Casual mode, I'm not sure whether it will be in the Nohr path or not. As you may know, I'm not the biggest on Casual, but that is what it is. Honestly, I really like what they're doing with the adjustable difficulty. If we conceivably start on Nohr hard and have control to make it easier or harder from there, I'm not too bothered. I'm a huge fan of The Elder Scrolls and I've seen a similar mechanic implemented well there before.

pls no casual wars outside the containment of that thread thanks

But Waifu Wars are fine, right? /s

Edited April 30, 2015 by DeoGame